It's a phrase flung about by non-Christians, skeptics and atheists, that the claims of Christianity are "arrogant."
Arrogant is defined as "having an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities," It can also be seen as claiming for oneself more than one has a right to. If one states what is, it is not arrogance.
Now to conclude that Christianity is arrogant, one has to consider some things. Christianity claims that God can be known, in part, through reason. That which is not known through reason can be known by revelation. It claims that what it teaches is through revelation as His will.
Is this arrogance? Only if it is not true. If what they claim is in fact true, it is no arrogance to claim it, but rather humility.
The irony is, to claim that Christianity is arrogant, it presupposes that the one making the accusation of arrogance knows whether or not God exists, and that He did not say what Christians claim He taught.
So, the question is: On what basis can this accusation be made.
If they can't back up what they claim, isn't that… arrogance?
"It can also be seen as claiming for oneself more than one has a right to. If one states what is, it is not arrogance."
ReplyDeleteProve God.
"If they can't back up what they claim, isn't that… arrogance?"
Your comment sounds very much like an Argument from Silence fallacy ("You can't prove it, therefore it isn't true!") as well as a gross misrepresentation of what I said in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThere are proofs for Christianity to be sure. The question is whether one would accept them or whether they would automatically refuse to consider any arguments outside of the realm of Science.
The points I made were:
1) The claim that Christianity is arrogant means that the claimant believes Christianity does not have a right to make such a claim.
2) However, the person who claims Christianity is arrogant must establish why they believe Christianity does not have the right to make this claim.
Whether or not Christianity is true is irrelevant in terms of this article. The point is, the person labeling Christianity "arrogant" does claim to know it does not have the authority it claims.